Page 112 of Children of Anguish and Anarchy

“The reason they destroyed their old fleet,” he answers.

We watch, silenced by our defeat. Giant runes burn red beneath the vessels’ hulls, generating a force that allows them to blast through the seas. Powered by the Blood Moon, the giant crafts traverse entire leagues in minutes. The very ocean quakes beneath them. But one special craft waits in the middle.

Dark clouds crackle overhead.

Baldyr…

A mass of storm clouds engulfs the king’s carrier, hiding him from view. A whirlpool swirls around the giant craft. The seas around him crackle, open fissures spewing molten rock.

A horn rings, and Baldyr’s carrier stops. The two lines on either sideof him diverge. Half the crafts sail due west for Orïsha. The other half sail south for New Gaia.

Promise me you’ll fight.Zélie’s words return.Promise me you’ll do everything you can. If the worst comes to pass, the Skulls won’t stop at New Gaia. They’ll sail for Orïsha, too.

Tears sting my eyes as I look down at my sister’s corpse. I hated her for speaking the words. But watching the carriers fly, I think of everyone left back home—Kenyon, Khani, Nâo; the maji and the kosidán.

The way their crafts move, the Skulls will cross the ocean in mere hours. Their battle for Orïsha will rage before sunrise.

I couldn’t save you.…I lay a hand on Zélie’s mangled cheek.I couldn’t stop their king.

Something bleeds from deep in my heart. Without my sister, I don’t know if it will ever stop.

But I’ll keep my promise to you, Zélie.

I hold my sister close for the last time. Vines wrap around her body as I lay her on the videira’s floor.

I turn to the Green Maidens and vineweavers, studying how their vines anchor, release, and launch. I point to the carriers heading for Orïsha.

“What will it take to attach to that craft?”

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

AMARI

MY HEART RACES ASthe island of New Gaia comes into view. A new ring of vines surrounds the island’s borders, creating a floating barrier to keep everyone out.

Every videira that made it back from our failed attack floats in the choppy waters. The New Gaians wait for the enemy, bone weapons drawn and brown faces grim.

Baldyr’s fleet looms in the distance.

It won’t be long before the Skulls reach their shores.

“Limpe o caminho!” a Green Maiden shouts. The floating wall of vines folds open at once. We sail through the woven walls, heading straight for the main river.

I hold Mae’e’s and Zélie’s cold hands as we pass through the dense underbrush and the emerald forest. Our videira zips through the lush plains. There isn’t a single soul on the surrounding rice fields. Even the elephantaires have been cleared away.

When we crash through the waterfall to enter the city center, all of New Gaia is up in arms. Hysteria sweeps through the city like a wildfire, spreading from the floating farms to the emperor’s palace. New Gaians flee in every direction, panic powering their every step. Tears stream free. Sharp screams fill the air.

Only a few vineweavers are left to guide their evacuation. They struggle to control the masses. The people crowd one another as they rush to enter the new network of vines. The city of hundreds of thousands moves underground, running away from the approaching Skulls.

And all the while, the crimson moon bleeds overhead. It bathes the city’s sacred mountains in red. Dark shadows cover the face of Mama Gaia. When we pass beneath her, the vines that crawl under her eyes look like tears.

We make it to the base of Mount Gaia, and the videira we sail unravels at once. Half the Green Maidens lift Mae’e and Zélie in woven stretchers. The others run to the shaking mountain.

In the absence of Yéva, it takes their combined efforts to open the tunnel at the base of the mountain. The stone disks slide apart, revealing the stairwell of obsidian glass.

I turn to Inan—he waits at the mountain’s base. He stares after the Green Maidens. I can almost feel the ember of hope that lies in his heart.

All at once, Inan wraps me in his arms. I squeeze my brother tight. Every fear I fight to keep down comes alive.

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